Decision in the US Congress: Erdogan calls Armenia resolution "worthless"

In a symbolic act, the US House of Representatives condemned the massacres of Armenians in the First World War as genocide. In Turkey, the resolution meets indignation. First the US ambassador was summoned to Ankara, then President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the decision as "worthless".

"I turn to the American public and the rest of the world: this decision has no value, we do not recognize it," Erdogan told parliamentarians in Ankara. The allegation of genocide is "the biggest insult to our people". On the other hand, the vote was welcomed by the Armenian government as a "step to the truth".

The US House of Representatives passed a resolution on Tuesday with a majority of 405 votes to 11, calling for the first time the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 genocide. Over the past few decades, similar draft resolutions have been introduced, but they have never won a majority. The vote fell on the Republic Day in Turkey, which commemorates the founding of the state in 1923.

Decision could jeopardize the relationship between the two countries

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also responded to the US resolution and spoke of a "meaningless political move" aimed at the "Armenian lobby and anti-Turkey groups". The House decision endangers relations between Turkey and the US in times of great danger to international and regional security.

At the same time, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu assumed that the move was to be understood as a response to the Turkish advance in Syria.

In 2001, France was the first major European country to classify the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. The Bundestag in Berlin followed in June 2016. This triggered a serious diplomatic crisis with Turkey.